Mark Matanza

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I'm a full stack web developer based in San Diego, California. Creative problem solver, solutions architect & impromptu consultant.

Below are some of my pet projects, most are written in HTML, CSS, & Javascript. Others, also sit atop the entire LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL & PHP).

Aside from learning new frameworks & libraries, I enjoy building things from scratch - a maintainable codebase that is stable yet robust & flexible.

The below projects are private repositories & available upon request for a walk-through. If you wish to see some of my public repositories, they can be found here.

GITHUB PROJECTS

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The Toolkit

Core Development

HTML5 CSS3 / SCSS JavaScript NodeJS PHP MySQL jQuery Blade Templating

Frontend Frameworks

ReactJS VueJS Svelte AngularJS AstroJS Next.js Tailwind CSS Bootstrap Chart.js

APIs & Integration

REST API Integration Google Cloud Console HubSpot Integration

Best Practices

Responsive Design Accessibility Cross-Browser Compatibility Performance Optimization

CMS & SEO

WordPress ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) Elementor Beaver Builder Divi WPBakery Shopify BigCommerce Landing Pages Technical SEO Google Search Console Google Analytics Core Web Vitals

Tools & Environment

VS Code Git / GitHub Docker Linux Apache Terminal / CLI (Linux/Unix) (S)FTP WPEngine Vercel Netlify Claude ChatGPT
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Things I've Built

NASA AI Gallery

A full-stack app that pulls a random image from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day archive and generates a fresh, real-time description of it using an LLM, streamed to the page token-by-token as it's written. Built with server-side API routes to keep credentials off the client, per-IP rate limiting on both endpoints, request timeouts to avoid silent hangs, and a graceful fallback UI with one-click retry if either upstream API is unavailable.

Debugged and patched through a live third-party API key-format migration, several deprecated model endpoints, and a set of high-severity Next.js CVEs discovered via npm audit — a good reminder that shipping is rarely just "write the code once."

Tech Stack
Next.js 16 React JavaScript
APIs & Services
NASA APOD API Groq API (LLM inference) Vercel
Features

Randomized daily image fetch, server-side key handling, real-time streaming AI descriptions, per-IP rate limiting, request timeouts, graceful error fallback with retry.

Open Food Near Me

A location-based site that auto-detects a visitor's approximate location and surfaces nearby restaurants and food spots. Built on WordPress, with search terms captured via ACF fields and passed through to the Google Maps API — with some custom wiring under the hood to make the results more relevant.

Tech Stack
HTML CSS Javascript WordPress ACF
APIs & Services
Google Maps API Google Cloud Console
Features

Location-based search for nearby restaurants & food spots, powered by the Google Maps API.

Project Immerse LLC

Early 2020, I formed a single member LLC primarily because I enjoyed consulting aside from my curiosity of actually owning a consulting business. I was curious about the process & challenges; in exchange, I learned how to wear different hats — content writing, marketing, SEO, web development, and tech blog writing.

Tech Stack
HTML CSS Javascript PHP Wordpress
Frameworks & Libraries
Twitter Bootstrap
Features

Content writing, personal pet projects & tech blog.

Interactive Brain/Map

I developed this interactive brain for Achieve Medical Center & sports betting map for Wagertalk.com using (SVG) Scalable Vector Graphics and binding events to each node while using Twitter Bootstrap utilities/techniques to maintain mobile responsiveness.

Tech Stack
HTML CSS Javascript jQuery SVG
Frameworks & Libraries
Twitter Bootstrap
Features

Responsive brain map on click, on-hover modal events, SVG.

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The Journey So Far

January 2026 - Present

Web Developer (Contract)

Vivid Software Solutions, San Diego, CA (Remote)

Currently partnering with Vivid Software Solutions as a contract developer, building and maintaining responsive WordPress sites for multiple agency clients — new features, landing pages, and UI improvements, backed by staging-safe core, plugin, and theme updates, performance tuning, and cross-browser polish.

July 2022 - December 2025

Web Developer

Curious Minds Media, Kingston, NY (Remote)

Spent three and a half years fully remote at Curious Minds Media, developing custom WordPress sites across a roster of client accounts. Built responsive interfaces with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and page builders, working closely with designers and marketers to ship polished experiences, plus ongoing technical SEO and bug fixes.

April 2021 - July 2022

Web Developer (Contract)

Vivid Software Solutions, San Diego, CA

My first time with Vivid Software Solutions - building responsive WordPress sites and reusable front-end components, with plugin updates, maintenance, troubleshooting, and QA testing keeping everything running smoothly.

January 2017 - April 2020

Web Developer (Contract)

Ignite Visibility, San Diego, CA (Remote)

Returned to Ignite Visibility for a longer run, maintaining WordPress and eCommerce sites that supported marketing campaigns, and rolling out technical improvements, performance optimizations, and responsive pages along the way.

May 2014 - August 2016

Software Developer

Beacon Cloud Solutions, Pacific Beach, CA

This is where things got architecturally ambitious. I led web application development end-to-end - training, planning, research, documentation, design, and implementation - and built a proprietary core MVC framework from the ground up on top of the LAMP stack. I also built the front-end architecture from scratch using (X)HTML, CSS, JavaScript (Node.js), Angular, Angular Material Components, jQuery, and SASS, plus a single-page app for document searching powered by AWS CloudSearch. I also led and built the development of stighub.com , a search tool for Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) that lets you quickly search through the STIG library by keyword or phrase.

October 2013 - April 2014

Web Developer (Contract)

Ignite Visibility, Sorrento Valley, CA

A shorter contract with Ignite Visibility had me handling WordPress maintenance, troubleshooting, and SEO implementation, along with API integrations, converting static sites into WordPress, managing database migrations, and owning client project scoping and requirements directly.

November 2013 - December 2013

Front-End Web Developer (Contract)

1Appworks, La Jolla, CA

A brief front-end role at 1Appworks had me developing groundwork applications with (X)HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, configuring templates with the Jinja2 templating system, and working closely with the CTO - picking up working knowledge of Python and the Google App Engine framework along the way.

March 2011 - October 2013

Senior Web Developer

1Point21 Interactive (formerly Highrank Websites), Mira Mesa, CA

My longest run of that early era. I developed and maintained responsive, cross-browser, W3C-standard websites with (X)HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and PHP, built custom-themed WordPress sites and internal tools, partnered closely with SEO and design teams, and trained and mentored three junior developers as the team's go-to knowledge base.

February 2010 - March 2011

Web Developer / SEO Engineer

SEO Inc., Carlsbad, CA

At SEO Inc., I paired development with optimization - building sites with (X)HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL while implementing the search engine optimization strategies handed down by the specialists and analysts on the team, sharpening page copy and URL architecture along the way.

October 2009 - January 2010

Web Coder

Autofusion, Miramar, CA

Some of my earliest hands-on work: slicing Photoshop mockups into pixel-perfect, web-optimized pages, updating client site links and graphics, and integrating PHP modules and JavaScript widgets into website templates.

August 2008 - March 2009

Web Analyst

Forcepoint (formerly Websense), Sorrento Valley, CA

Before moving into hands-on development full time, I worked as a Web Analyst conducting investigative keyword and URL research, categorizing sites into a proprietary database and filtering system, and contributing to an internal knowledge base tracking new web content patterns and trends.

August 2007 - March 2009

Web Specialist

Eventful, La Jolla, CA

This is where I made the leap into web development. I started out as a Web Specialist at Eventful, using (X)HTML, JavaScript, Perl, and regular expressions to pull event listings, testing and debugging web crawlers, and helping build out internal reporting tools - my first real taste of turning code into something people actually used.

January 2006 - July 2007

Account Analyst

LPL Financial Services, San Diego, CA

Before making the jump into tech, I spent a year and a half as an Account Analyst at LPL Financial Services, providing operational support for advisory platforms - servicing and instructing advisors and third-party money managers, along with account research and quality control.

May 2005 - December 2005

Production Assistant

Imago Publishing, San Juan Capistrano, CA

My first job out of college was as a Production Assistant at Imago Publishing, managing production on a wide variety of projects - from 4C art books to duotone and children's books. I served as a liaison between the publisher, overseas printers, and shipping services, and helped assess and improve product and service quality.

May 2005

B.A. Economics, Sociology Minor

San Diego State University, San Diego, CA

Before any of this, I earned my degree at San Diego State University - the starting point for a career that ended up almost entirely in web development.